New features are always good news. And there are plenty of both with our new POOL 4.0.1 upgrade (you've already updated to that, right?).

Built for Speed
In addition to the more streamlined look of 4.0, we've revved up our ability to find you the fastest available server and to minimize your download time. You'll find previews, searches and batch folders all optimized for high-performance delivery.

Weekly Top 20 Audio Charts tailored to your specific POOL plan are now available for batch download. Single audio format subscribers will receive the appropriate Top 20 chart. Audio Silver, Audio Gold and Platinum subscribers will receive all audio charts.

Weekly Top 20 Video Charts designed to bring you the hottest new pop, hip-hop, dance, country and rock releases in one easy to download folder are now available to Video Silver, Video Gold and Platinum subscribers.

Exclusive Picks & Playlists (updated monthly)
All POOL plans now include exclusive playlists featuring handpicked hits and throwbacks from the industry's top programmers and mix-show DJs, beginning this month with Nick's Picks, courtesy of DJ Nick James of
Filthy Party in Tampa FL. Stay tuned for more to come...

What hasn't changed?
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And we haven't. POOL subscribers can still look forward to choosing from an excess of Clean Edits, mix-friendly Intro Edits, remixes, and limited-edition dance mixes, all delivered as lossless audio (why settle for less than the best your sound system has to offer?), and protected by our lifetime Clouded Store and Restore Guarantee.

POOL V 4.0.1
The new face of a legend

Not a POOL subscriber (yet)? Two words: FREE TRIALEmail us to sign up for your free trial.

He's DJ Frnkrok to his many SoundCloud followers, "Audio Tech" according to the sign on his door down the hall, and, when he's not locked in his studio, Frank Gutierrez to those of us here who, like you, count on Frank to provide the Clean Edits without which many a gig might not be possible.

If a Promo Only Clean Edit has ever made your life a little easier, you can thank Frank.

A survivor of student loans necessitated by his determination to master the art of producing, Frank found his way to our D.A.W. via the Florida Institute of Recording Studio Technology and a little help from his friends.

"After school I spent some time interning at Power 96 in Miami where I got to know [former Promo Only rep] Eric Velez. It was Eric who suggested I reach out to [our executive producer] Chuck Barrett when a slot at for audio tech opened," says Frank. "So I did. And never looked back."

In similar fashion, Frank found himself stumbling into live DJing as "Out of the blue, I get a call from Eric, desperate to find someone to fill in for a Disney gig. He gives me the software I needed. Next thing I know, I'm a DJ."

Today finds Frank at the wheel of every Clean Edit (and a great many of the Intro Edits) we service and rocking a two-year, two-night residency at Universal Studio's prestigious The Groove nightclub, where Frank faces a not just a different crowd but different nationalities nightly.

"Every night is so different," says Frank. "Brazilian, Latin, an auto-show convention where oldies and rock are all that work -- I never play the same set twice." He credits his tenure at The Groove for his finely honed ability to effortlessly blend genres. "It takes mad work to curate a blended library. But you do what it takes."

His approach to DJing also includes a willingness to take risks: "I've never had a home set-up. Still don't. I practice in front of a live crowd. You learn a lot more from a booth than a bedroom."

It was the comment that broke the Internet. But before we dive in, let's catch up on what Sneak said exactly:

"If you're a DJ you learn how to mix with decks first... I don't care how big you are, in front of a million people, if you never touched a piece of vinyl and actually mixed that and created something with that, you're not a DJ in my eyes. I look down on people like that," the veteran US jock said in a recent Pioneer Radio interview, as reported by Mixmag.

He also said: "In the last 20 years, there was a gap where kids just didn't care about the craft any more. They just wanted to be famous, they wanted to be popular, they want to do whatever it takes to be in front of all those people. They skipped things to get to that level."

"The popularity means nothing. I'd give the local kid more love because he's hustling and DJing [with vinyl] and putting his heart into it every day... You've got people who do it for love and you've got people who do it for other reasons."

Why he's wrong... and why this is damaging to DJing

Oh my, oh my, why do people say things like this? It's so closed-minded. This stuff is really unhelpful - and it's also demonstrably untrue. Sure, grabbing some software and the top 100 EDM tunes and learning to hit the "sync" doesn't make you a good DJ, but neither necessarily does playing vinyl. Earning your dues is what makes you a good DJ. And it has absolutely nothing to do with what you use when you play.

Sneak is a good DJ. I remember buying his records and dancing to his sets "back in the day". I have respect for him, but he's mistaken here. Here's why:

Firstly, the ability to do a good job of playing music for people to dance to is not intrinsically linked to 12" vinyl. Turntables are just a tool, like all the other tools DJs can use to play music - CDJs, DVS, software, phone apps, production hardware, whatever. Why oh why can't people get over this "if it ain't vinyl, it ain't real" dogma? It's 2015, not 1985!

About Digital DJ Tips: Featuring news, reviews, show reports, and tutorials,
Digital DJ Tips is one of the most-read DJ tech websites in the world, with over 60,000 students on its paid and free DJ courses.

Packed with effects, optimized for Serato DJ, and tailored for turntablists looking for a performance mixer that can handle a lashing and keep on scratching, the Pioneer DJM-S9 just may be the greatest battle mixer of the digital age - or any age.

But don't just take our word for it...

"The DJM-S9 is probably the best mixer I have ever seen" - DJ Jazzy Jeff

A genre unto herself, Kaki King fuses the ancient tradition of working with one's hands with digital technology, projection-mapping imagery onto her guitar in her groundbreaking multimedia work "The Neck Is a Bridge to the Body."
Using her guitar's neck like a keyboard, she plays an intricate melody as she takes the audience on a musical journey of light and sound. She calls it "guitar as paintbrush." - ted.com

We've created a new tab to show off one of the brightest new features of our all-new POOL 4.0.1: Charts & Playlists is where you'll find weekly Top 20 audio charts tailored to your specific POOL plan, a weekly Video Top 20 chart featuring the best in multi-genre releases, and our new Programmer Picks, featuring hand-selected tracks and throwbacks from our team of programmers & DJs - all available via batch download.

It's one of the greatest musical discovery tools we've ever offered. And it's available now via the Charts & Playlists tab.